The Canadian skier, who won moguls gold at the Sochi 2014 Olympics, followed by a silver at Pyeongchang in 2018, announced in a video message on social media that she wanted to perfect herself in another discipline.

"After three Olympic cycles and 12 years on the World Cup circuit, I felt that I needed to find a new source of motivation and had to push my limits even more so I can reach my full potential as a skier," Dufour-Lapointe said.

"I am starting a new chapter in my career - I want to perfect myself in another discipline.

"I want to connect with the mountain differently.

"Above all, I want to get out of my comfort zone in a way I’ve never done before".

Dufour-Lapointe won gold at the 2015 World Championships in the moguls discipline at Krieschberg in Germany.

She also competed at Beijing 2022 but failed to reach the final run at an event where Australia's Jakara Anthony won gold.

Sochi 2014 was a special triumph for Justine Dufour-Lapointe, as her sister Chloé Dufour-Lapointe took silver in the moguls to share the podium with her, while another sister Maxime also competed in the same event.

Freeriding is a non-Olympic skiing discipline where competitors race from a start gate at the summit of a mountain to a finish gate at the bottom, with the best run winning.

Dufour-Lapointe is due to compete on the Freeride World Tour, which is scheduled to hold its 16th edition across five countries.

The first stop of the 2023 edition is scheduled to be at Baqueira Beret in Spain from January 28 to February 2.